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BumRushDaShow

(172,159 posts)
Sun May 17, 2026, 04:04 AM 12 hrs ago

Sen. Cassidy knocked out of Louisiana Republican primary as Trump-backed Letlow, Fleming make runoff

Source: AP

Updated 12:52 AM EDT, May 17, 2026


BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Sen. Bill Cassidy was decisively defeated in Saturday’s Republican primary in Louisiana, unable to convince voters that he deserved another term five years after voting to convict President Donald Trump during an impeachment trial over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He finished behind U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who capitalized on the power of Trump’s endorsement as the president continues purging his party of people he views as disloyal, and John Fleming, the state treasurer. Letlow and Fleming will compete in a runoff on June 27.

The result was the latest example of Trump’s unrivaled power over the Republican Party as he approaches the twilight of his second term with persistent inflation, sagging approval ratings and dissatisfaction over the war with Iran. Unlike some other senators who declined to run again after crossing Trump, Cassidy pushed hard for reelection and spent nearly double the combined amount of his opponents.

But none of that was enough for Cassidy to qualify for a runoff, let alone win a third term. “Our country is not about one individual,” he told supporters after his loss. “It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about the Constitution.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-republican-senate-primary-2026-cassidy-letlow-1c8b927fd981c40cb4a538b0f89671dc

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Sen. Cassidy knocked out of Louisiana Republican primary as Trump-backed Letlow, Fleming make runoff (Original Post) BumRushDaShow 12 hrs ago OP
WTF is wrong with some people? not fooled 12 hrs ago #1
And Kennedy was always a sneering nasty SOB but apparently not enough. BumRushDaShow 10 hrs ago #2
? What happened with Kennedy? Buddyzbuddy 9 hrs ago #3
I used to see him in hearings BumRushDaShow 8 hrs ago #4
Thank you, I agree that he is very slimy. Buddyzbuddy 1 hr ago #36
He, MAGat Mikie Johnson, and suck-up Steve Scalise BumRushDaShow 1 hr ago #37
Kennedy voted to impeach Trump early on. ananda 8 hrs ago #5
Cassidy did but Kennedy voted to acquit for both impeachment trials BumRushDaShow 7 hrs ago #11
Sorry. ananda 5 hrs ago #19
It's the "dy" at the end! BumRushDaShow 5 hrs ago #21
Kennedy is the fake Foghorn Leghorn persona (Oxford educated) Hassin Bin Sober 1 hr ago #35
Thanks ananda 24 min ago #39
About 400,000 total votes. Scruffy1 8 hrs ago #6
This is always the problem and they rely on it jgmiller 5 hrs ago #23
Sadly more Repugs showed up to vote GreenWave 3 hrs ago #34
I bet Rep. Julia Letlow is a nasty piece of work. BradBo 8 hrs ago #7
Get low with Letlow... BattleRow 3 hrs ago #31
He is free to vote his conscience, now, if he has one. bluedigger 7 hrs ago #8
One can hope. If he was Trump that's exactly what he would or more. ToxMarz 7 hrs ago #9
Bill Cassidy, a physician, cast the deciding vote to approve RFK Jr. as Secretary of HHS. OGBuzz 7 hrs ago #10
I wondered about that. Thanks. question everything 5 hrs ago #22
A sitting Senator losing his or her primary is quite rare Polybius 6 hrs ago #12
And Paxton is so toxic, Talarico takes the seat. paleotn 6 hrs ago #15
our brains are boiled nt Geechie 3 hrs ago #33
The bombshells of primarying incumbent Senators were in 2010 BumRushDaShow 5 hrs ago #20
Lugar was an old school Republican. The kind you could tolerate if you had to. He was one of the first to be ran out DC mobeau69 4 hrs ago #30
Not surprising since MAGA now comprises 100% of the republican base PSPS 6 hrs ago #13
Swap one reprehensible excuse for a human for another. paleotn 6 hrs ago #14
So sadly true mountain grammy 5 hrs ago #16
Food is their only saving grace. I do love it. paleotn 5 hrs ago #17
Oh yeah. mountain grammy 4 hrs ago #29
And music... dsharp88 28 min ago #38
I don't know what mgardener 5 hrs ago #18
Not pedophile enough for MAGA, I guess. n/t flvegan 5 hrs ago #24
If this doctor had an ounce of decency, he would not have voted to confirm RFK Jr. as health secretary dalton99a 4 hrs ago #25
For those of you who had a sliver of hope that the MAGA fever has broken, they're still all in. dem4decades 4 hrs ago #26
Apparently Timewas 4 hrs ago #27
the concern is --- azureblue 4 hrs ago #28
Racist Gerrymandering Roy Rolling 3 hrs ago #32

not fooled

(6,760 posts)
1. WTF is wrong with some people?
Sun May 17, 2026, 04:29 AM
12 hrs ago

I realize it's a tired, rhetorical question by now...but...after every disastrous consequence of krasnov's second installation, especially the illegal war and looting the treasury to give money to billionaires, his cult members STILL follow like lemmings???

BumRushDaShow

(172,159 posts)
2. And Kennedy was always a sneering nasty SOB but apparently not enough.
Sun May 17, 2026, 06:19 AM
10 hrs ago

It's hard when you still have to deal with an entrenched 25% of the population who are mindless zombies.

BumRushDaShow

(172,159 posts)
4. I used to see him in hearings
Sun May 17, 2026, 07:59 AM
8 hrs ago

and he was awful.

It's a Louisiana thing and BOTH Senators have been horrid along with their slimy SOH.

(ETA - Kennedy is up in 2028)

Buddyzbuddy

(2,886 posts)
36. Thank you, I agree that he is very slimy.
Sun May 17, 2026, 03:23 PM
1 hr ago

I thought maybe something happened with him that I missed. Fingers are crossed for '28.

BumRushDaShow

(172,159 posts)
11. Cassidy did but Kennedy voted to acquit for both impeachment trials
Sun May 17, 2026, 09:15 AM
7 hrs ago

But I only brought Kennedy up because he is the other LA Senator and is one who needs to go too (even more so)!

Scruffy1

(3,544 posts)
6. About 400,000 total votes.
Sun May 17, 2026, 08:14 AM
8 hrs ago

About 3,000,000 total voted in the 2024 presidential elections. To me this shows how vulnerable the Republican party really is. In 2024 presidential race only 60% of eligible voters in Louisiana voted. If the Louisiana Democratic Party could motivate some of the 40% that don't vote this seat could be in play. But they will probably move " to the middle " and get an ass kicking as usual.

jgmiller

(705 posts)
23. This is always the problem and they rely on it
Sun May 17, 2026, 11:50 AM
5 hrs ago

Voter apathy is real, people love to complain but then when they have to do something so simple as voting they don't do it. It used to be that people thought it was their duty to vote now they think it's a chore but they will happily waste hours scrolling on their phones or watching reality TV every day.

GreenWave

(12,795 posts)
34. Sadly more Repugs showed up to vote
Sun May 17, 2026, 01:47 PM
3 hrs ago

About 42,000 more, but if the Orange Menace has alienated the Cassidy voters where half do not vote R in Nov. the good guys could win.

ToxMarz

(3,059 posts)
9. One can hope. If he was Trump that's exactly what he would or more.
Sun May 17, 2026, 09:14 AM
7 hrs ago

He would actually vote and act to fuck Trump any way he could at every possible moment. Go for it Senator! You don't have much time and you will be on the right side of history.

OGBuzz

(580 posts)
10. Bill Cassidy, a physician, cast the deciding vote to approve RFK Jr. as Secretary of HHS.
Sun May 17, 2026, 09:15 AM
7 hrs ago

Don't let the door hit you on the way out Billy.

Polybius

(22,112 posts)
12. A sitting Senator losing his or her primary is quite rare
Sun May 17, 2026, 10:27 AM
6 hrs ago

The last time it happened was in 2012 when Richard Lugar of Indiana lost his primary. Technically, it happened in 2017 when Luther Strange lost to Roy Moore, but Strange was never elected Senator, he was appointed.

I predict that it will also happen on May 26th, when Senator John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton battle it out.

paleotn

(22,696 posts)
15. And Paxton is so toxic, Talarico takes the seat.
Sun May 17, 2026, 10:54 AM
6 hrs ago

Or TX stays true to form. They've done that before. What is it with hot places and fucked up politics? Merely a correlation or something more?

BumRushDaShow

(172,159 posts)
20. The bombshells of primarying incumbent Senators were in 2010
Sun May 17, 2026, 11:32 AM
5 hrs ago

when Mike Lee took out Bob Bennett in UT.

Another that year was here in PA after Arlen Specter switched from (R) to (D) in 2009 but lost his 2010 primary as a (D) to Joe Sestak in 2010 (who lost the general to Pat Toomey (R)).

mobeau69

(12,460 posts)
30. Lugar was an old school Republican. The kind you could tolerate if you had to. He was one of the first to be ran out DC
Sun May 17, 2026, 12:45 PM
4 hrs ago

by the Tea party. He was never going to be magat material and probably would have voted to impeach. Sort of a Liz Cheney type. You know, the type that wasn’t big on traitors.

PSPS

(15,375 posts)
13. Not surprising since MAGA now comprises 100% of the republican base
Sun May 17, 2026, 10:42 AM
6 hrs ago

The question is can a MAGA loon win a statewide general election. Everyone can vote in that, not just the MAGA base.

paleotn

(22,696 posts)
14. Swap one reprehensible excuse for a human for another.
Sun May 17, 2026, 10:48 AM
6 hrs ago

Louisiana is a horror in so many ways. The coast is sinking while sea level rises. New Orleans is untenable. It will be swallowed by the Gulf perhaps in the twilight of my years. I may not live to see it but it will go under the waves. That's a mathematical certainty. It's gone. Their economy is a shambles. Opportunity is non existent. Crime and violence are rampant. If anywhere in America is a shithole, Louisiana is arguably the top of the list. A failed state propped up by Blue state prosperity. Turn off DC largess and they're a banana republic / anarchy state. Why shouldn't their politics be just as horrible?

mountain grammy

(29,200 posts)
29. Oh yeah.
Sun May 17, 2026, 12:44 PM
4 hrs ago

Not a bad meal in NO and pretty much anywhere in LA. We hit a Casino seafood buffet in Shreveport that was amazing 🤩.

mgardener

(2,401 posts)
18. I don't know what
Sun May 17, 2026, 11:14 AM
5 hrs ago

Trump lickspittle, Elise Stefanik did to Trump, but he yanked her ambassadorship to the UN and endorsed someone else for the Gov race.
She is not running for re election.

MTG fared better then most Republicans.

dalton99a

(95,224 posts)
25. If this doctor had an ounce of decency, he would not have voted to confirm RFK Jr. as health secretary
Sun May 17, 2026, 12:22 PM
4 hrs ago

dem4decades

(14,372 posts)
26. For those of you who had a sliver of hope that the MAGA fever has broken, they're still all in.
Sun May 17, 2026, 12:27 PM
4 hrs ago

Timewas

(2,776 posts)
27. Apparently
Sun May 17, 2026, 12:27 PM
4 hrs ago

there must be something in the water down there that keeps them stupid..........

azureblue

(2,748 posts)
28. the concern is ---
Sun May 17, 2026, 12:29 PM
4 hrs ago

the Dem primary turn out was 347,000 Dem votes vs 401,000 GOP votes. If La can't get the Dem turnout above 500,000 we will lose Louisiana. Because you know the GOP will cheat..

Roy Rolling

(7,708 posts)
32. Racist Gerrymandering
Sun May 17, 2026, 01:09 PM
3 hrs ago

These Bozo senators (with apologies to clowns) are elected in carefully crafted Republican districts.

Without racist Trump voters they can’t win. A wave of targeted minorities voters can end this.

Help us out, send some freedom riders. We can’t do it alone. Thanks for your attention to this matter. —RR

Red Beans and Ricely yours,

Non-racist Louisiana.

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